What Startups Can Learn From Planetside 2

If you haven’t heard of Planetside 2, it’s about time you got acquainted. It’s a new kind of game described as MMOFPS (massively multiplayer online first person shooter). It’s currently in beta with a launch date next month but most everyone would agree that there’s no way in hell it will be ready by then. Me, I’m confident they’ll be fine because they’ve got elements startups need to emulate.

Iterate, Iterate, Iterate

During the beta, their servers are up from 6am until midnight during the week and 2am until midnight on the weekends. What happens during those few magical hours? They’re looking at data (e.g. how many sniper shots were fired in grid location L5 against main battle tanks) They’re reading the thousands of posts on their forum to distill wisdom. They’re coding away like mad. Welcome to 1-day release cycles. Mind you, they’re not just making minor tweaks. One day, after players had complained about a primary game resource, they just removed it. They iterate on their product really quickly and aren’t afraid to make big changes.

Build a Relationship With Your Customers

If you heard “Sony Online Entertainment (SOE)”, you would probably think about stodgy old men sitting around, smoking cigars. I’m impressed by their tenacity when dealing with clients. Sure, they have a website and a forum and the social media accounts. But then they go beserk with weekly live streaming events called Friday Night Ops. The President of SOE, John “Smed” Smedley, routinely posts on the forums and at first I thought he was a dev. They have a youtube show where they talk about Planetside news and show off fan-produced content. They have personalities like Matt Higby and Margaret Krohn who really know the game and community and are everywhere.

Go BIG or Go Home

Battlefield, Call of Duty, Halo–they all have limits for the number of players on a single player. Typically, it’s 32 or 64. On planetside, it’s 2000. That’s two orders of magnitude, folks. Website where you can see every player’s configurations and analytics? Check, and it’s free. Mobile and tablet apps? Check. Every game mechanic you’ll find in the other top FPS’s? Check. Graphics that will make players broke and computer makers ecstatic? Check. Usually, startups should focus on doing one thing really really well. But sometimes, you just need to go BIG.